Synthetic Opioids: How the CDC is Expanding National Capacity to Measure Human Exposure

The number of overdoses and deaths related to synthetic opioids have increased in recent years with the emergence of many new and deadly man-made drugs. Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid that is 50 to 100 times more potent than morphine. Laboratory reference materials and analytical methods are more necessary than ever to combat the many new, illicit fentanyl analogs and related compounds largely driving the increases in opioid deaths. Join Senior Service Fellow Melissa Carter and Research Chemist Elizabeth Hamelin from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as they discuss the design and application of an innovative new product line of analytical and certified reference materials, the Traceable Opioid Material* Kits (TOM Kits*), that has been developed to support detection of emerging opioids by laboratories from all U.S. sectors.